Saccadic adaptation shapes perceived size: Common codes for action and perception

Recent findings suggest that perceptual and motor systems share common codes; for instance, perceived object location is known to correlate with motor changes in the oculomotor system. Here, we investigate whether modifying saccade amplitude affects object size perception. Participants saw in peripheral vision a test disk that could vary in size across trials. This disk was then replaced by a small target cross, which was the signal to make a saccade. After the saccade, the target cross was extinguished and replaced by a reference disk (thus seen in foveal vision). Participants had to compare the post- to the pre-saccade disk sizes. Psychometric functions were obtained before and after one session of 142 saccades made toward the cross that either stepped toward the fixation point during the saccade (backward adaptation group) or remained stationary (control group). In the experimental group, stepping the target cross toward fixation during saccades decreased movement amplitude, a phenomenon called saccadic adaptation. We observed a concurrent shift in the psychometric functions reflecting a decrease in perceived object size. Such a perceptual modification did not occur in the control group. Our results reveal that motor changes co-occur with changes in perceived object size. Unlike previous studies evaluating the impact of saccadic adaptation on perceived location, we measured here the perception of another spatial feature (the object size) that is not relevant for the sensorimotor transformation. Theoretical implications of the strong links between oculomotor parameters and object perception are discussed.